GPS monitoring helps police remedy string of South Coatesville automotive thefts – Daily Local

SOUTH COATESVILLE — A GPS tracking system helped police solve a motor vehicle rash in South Coatesville, and a 10-month investigation led to the arrest of a Delaware County man.

Charges were filed against Michael Watson, 38, of Boothwyn, Delawre County, on October 6, 2022, following a 10-month criminal investigation into the theft of multiple motor vehicles in the South Coatesville County. Between November 2021 and January 2022, there were multiple vehicles that were broken into and stolen in the South Coatesville Borough.

One of the stolen vehicles, a 2022 Toyota 4-Runner, was equipped with a GPS tracking system that allowed the South Coatesville Police Department to track the vehicle in Chester, Delaware County, and the city of Philadelphia, where the vehicle was recovered was and unoccupied.

In Chester, Watson is believed to have used two credit cards stolen from the Toyota 4-runner at a local supermarket for over $2,000. A second vehicle stolen from South Coatesville, a 2011 Volkswagen Passat, was found abandoned in Willistown Township, near where another vehicle, an Infinity QX80, was stolen.

Two days later, Watson was arrested by the Southern Chester County Regional Police Department while driving the Infinity QX80 stolen from Willistown Township. Although at least five vehicles were stolen from South Coatesville Borough during this period, Watson was linked to two of the stolen vehicles through fingerprint and DNA analysis.

Police have charged Watson with theft of a motor vehicle, receipt of stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.